, 1887-05-01

turn went to my room with the
of going to bed. No sooner had 1 IN
locked my door han a strange and indie
Unable dread took possession of me-. 1 saw
nothing and heard nothing, but 1 detected
a slight and peculiar odor of some species
Of tobacco, or 1t may have been opium. 1
do not smoke, and the conviction Instant
y flashed upon me that during my abb
5ence some one had entered my room,
and, for aught | knew, might still be
there. My sense of smell is keen, but the
efluvin could barely be perceived, and
had come [ believed from the clothes or
breath of the intruder. There was an
English waiter in the hotel, and as he hap
pened to be in the passage outside, l called
him into the room. Then with his assist
anCe 4 began to search tho room. We
looked under the bed, opened the cup
board, and examined a curtained recess
that served as q wardrobe; but could see
nothing to justify my suspicious. There
was no chimney, as the room was warmed
by n small stove. lad there been a tor
race or balcony outside my window, L
should ut once have concluded that an en-
trance had been effected by that means;
but with diamonds of such great value in
my possession, l could not have occupied
"A room Of that description, and I knew
thatsthere was nothing between my win
dow and the water, which 100 feet below
lhplfSh III DuoO VI lnC DullNlllR. L HuNb
the waiter q trihe, and asked him to say
nothing about my suspicious; for it Ind
just occurred to me that the landlord prob
nbly had a master key to my room, n
might have had some reason to enter il In
my absence. Yet, l had never before
noticed in the hotel these strange narcotic
fumes, which had now almost disappeared,
but which 1 shall remember while I live.
Though was no longer alarmed, as soon
M Hfhn man laft nav room IL twDu I'LL,
some trepidation that l opened my
box and felt for my stones. They
were safe. My mind was now almost
ut ease, but l examined more care
fully thai usual the revolver, which l
always kept under my pillow, to satisfy
myself that it was in a serviceable con-
dition. l then went'to bed.
81 think it must have been
just after L had fallen asleep, when
l awo.;e with a start, reused by a slight
noise near me, Holding my breath, 1
listened, and distinctly heard a creaking
sound in the room, as if two boards were
being slowly parted by means of some in
strument. The noise stopped for o few
minutes, then began again, and went on
for several seconds, and stopped as before.
l had grasped my revolver and lay mo-
tionless prepared TO use it. 1 did not dare
TO raise al alarm, because, for aught 1
NAN" ~ SANN fSAJ LII L A1llblb Dc tA-
posed to some deadly weapon, which would
be used against me II I attempted to sum
mon aid. The knowledge, however, that
l was armed and able to defend myself
took away the greater part of my fear,
even while I listened to that mysterious
noise. My belief was that two OF the
boards in the floor, or in the wall, were
being slowly removed In order to admit
some one into the room. / was ready to
fire no Gnpn no II haul n afno1tIr - 49,
my bedside, as l did not doubt that my
life would be attempted. The room was
quite dark; but if my first shot missed,
the flash from the pistol would enable me
10 take good aim with my second. Sud
denly the nature of the sound altered,
and at last l understood how it was pro-
duced, and knew that the window was
being slowly opened by some one outside
No ladder was high enough to reach from
a boat, and the ~thoroughfare, which even
at night was constantly made of the
water, rendered access by this means i'm
possible. i concluded that In my absence
some one had entered my room by the
door, and at the sound of my approach
had opened the window and gone outside,
closing 1t Immediately afterward. But
what vampire wal this, that for more
than IN hour had chung to q sill barely six
inches wide, or had poised himself at so
. ePOA NAAH LhAAON lEiBC4
All these thoughts, and many more,
passed through my mind during the few
seconds that l lay conscious that l must
infict or suffer instant death. Not to
speak of the robbery, which l did not
doubt was the cause OF this mans pres
ence, escape was impossible for him except
at the expense OF my life, and l / believed
he would not hesitate to TAX it. Only a
few nights before, had 1 not seen my
trinnh with loco Rnrtgn gfppT1- 1nNrn nv M,
assassin!
at was very dark, out ut that moment,
through u rift in the dense clouds, the
moon shed a flood Of light, and for an in
slant and no longer, between myself and
the sky, silhouettelike, / saw distinctly
the form of n man. He held a poniard in
his hand and was preparing to step into
the room. 1t may nave been due to
imagination, but I believed that l also
saw the same diabolical face which 1 had
observed in the man who had attacked
my friend. Without further refec-
ton, and almost instinctively, 1
fired. Following the report of the
shot came a convulsive sob, and from the
breath Of cool air that suddenly passed
over my face, l knew that nothing inter
vened now between me and the night
breeze that was blowing through the
open window. 1 sprang from bed, and,
bAoIihB my way L IOuuu, as L eApeCUeuJ
that the intruder had disappeared. Put
ting my hand out Of the window, l could
feel that there was neither rope nor ladder
there. / then closed the window and
secured it. When 1 had struck q Light l
saw on the sleeve of my night shirt a
damp, red stain, and knew that when /
had put my han outside there was blood
upon the sill; but whether it had been
split by my shot or otherwise, of course 1
could not tell. Sleep was out of the ques-
ton now, so l dressed and remained where
l was till it was time for me to go in the
morning. l said nothing of what had oc-
CURED, and heard nothing of it; nor from
that day till this has any intelligence con
neeted with the event ever reached me.
If the man had a poniard in his death
grasp, and, as Is likely, was weighted with
other heavy weapons, on striking the
water he would sink like lead. l could
not, however, forget my terrible expert
ence. 1 became nervous and subject to
odd f~ancies, and took to reading books
that treated of the history, virtues and
baneful effects of gems.
"Soon afterward l resolved to retire
from business. By far the most important